Johx paul buekhaed and feaoti xovotxy



(No Model.)

J. P. BURKHARD & P. NOVOTNY.

SAFETY LOOK FOR FIRE ARMS.

No. 288,619. Patented Nov. 20, 1883.

l/IH/E/VTOR' 4:11:46 1 f Attorney WITNESSES described, and 'poined out in the claims.

Unrrno STATES JOHN PAUL BURKHARD AND FRANK P TENT @rricn.

NOVOTXY, or sr. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

SA FETY-LOCK FOR FIRE-ARMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 288,619, dated November 20, 1883.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN P. BURKHARD and FRANK Novo'rNY, of St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Appliances for Fire-Arms; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertainsto make and use the same.

Our invention relates to an improvement in safety appliances, and is applicable to all fire-arms.

The object of the invention is to provide fire-arms with a safety device for locking the mainspring, or any other part of lock or firing mechanism, against action, should the sear become disengaged from the hammer by reason of accident or undue wearing of the parts.

\Vith this end in view our invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter Heretofore safety appliances have been operated by auxiliary springs, or springs entirely independent from the lock mechanism proper. Such construction of safety appliances is defeetive for the reason that the auxiliary spring is hidden from sight; and, hence, should it become broken or impaired the safety appliances would thereby berendercd useless, and yet the user of the gun might and probably would not be apprised of the dangerous condition of the lock mechanism except by a premature or accidental discharge of the gun. In our improvement the safety appliance is actuated solely by the mainspring, and hence so long as the gun is capable of being discharged, so long will the safety device perform its function ofpreventing an accidental discharge, and hence it need receive no attention or inspection, as the user can rely on the fact that the safety appliance is in condition for use.

lVhile we may embody the principle of our invention in different forms of construction and relative arrangement of parts, we have hereinafter described one form of safety ap pliance embodying our invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a lock embodying our improvement, the hammer being shown in I its cocked position. Fig. 2 shows detached l perspective views of the mainspring and sear. Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of the lock-plate with the hammer, scar, and spring removed.

A represents the lock-plate provided with a hammer abutment, B. To the plate A is pivoted the hammer C, the latter being pro vided with a recess, a, which engages with the abutment B.

D is a skeleton frame secured to the lockplate by the screws 0, and supports the inner pivotal bearing of the hammer.

E is the scar, and E the sear-notch on the rear face of the hannner.

F is the mainspring, preferably made in a single piece, and constructed with two arms, G G. The arm G rests upon the long arm (I of the sear near the pivotal bearing, thereby retaining the short arm 0 of the sear in con stant engagement with the hammer, so that when the hammer is cocked the sear will e11- gage in the sear-notch of the hammer and retain the latter in its cocked position. The other arm Gof the mainspring of the lock impinges against the shoulder f of the hammer, and throws the latter forward when the sear is released by the trigger. The arm G- is provided with a laterally-projecting lug, H, near its free end and on one edge thereof.

I is a pivoted dog, the depending arm i of which extends rearwardly on an incline beneath the lug H on the spring, so that, the spring being depressed by the cooking of the hammer, the lug ll will engage the arm i and force it forward until it has passed below its end, when the lower end of the arm i of the locking-dog will be forced rearwardl y over the lug and lock the mainspring in its depressed position. The pivoted dog I is provided wit-h a slot 'or recess, g, within which engages the forward end of the lever K, which is pivoted within a recess, L, formed in the inner face of the lockplate. Lever K is provided with a lateral arm, is, located in close proximity to the sear-arm Z. The sear-arm is constructed with a flange, a, that projects over the arm 7;, and hence when the long arm of the sear is depressed the rear end of the lever R will also be depressed, and retain the locking-dog in proper position for engagi ng the mainspring when the hammer is cocked. By causing the rear arm of the sear to engage the arm k of the lever K, the mainspringarm (.l performs the double function of operating the scar and retaining it in engagement with the hammer, and also of retaining the pivoted dog in proper position to engage the mainspring and lock it against accidental action when the hammer is cocked. The trigger-arm, when raised, elevates the rear ends of the scar and of the safety lever, thereby disengaging the dog from the mainspring, and leaving the latter free to throw the hammer forward, and also disengage the sear from its sear-notch in the hammer.

From the foregoing it will be observed that our safety attachment is extremely simple in its construction and arrangement of its parts, and adds but slight expense to the cost. of manufacture, and renders the operation of the lock absolutely safe and reliable. When the hammer is retracted and cocked. the safety dog will automatically engage the mainspring and retain it in its depressed position and out of operation. In this adjustment of parts the mainspring is kept from throwing the hammer forward, even though the sear should be come disengaged from the sear -notch, and thereby rendered incapable of holding the hammer in its cocked position.

It is evident that numerous changes in the construction and arrangement of parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of our invention, and hence we would have it understood that we do not restrict ourselves to the exact construction shown and described, but claim any construction in which the actuating power of such safety device can be traced in any degree, directly or indirectly, to the force contained within the mainspring of any form, kind, or class of fire-arms. \Ve feel ourselves entitled to such broad claim for the reason that the application of the power contained within the mainspring for the purpose of actuating a safety device, constituting,

as it does, the life and spirit of our invention, is an entire new and radical departure from the prior state of the art.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a gun-lock, the combination, with the hammer, mainspring, and sear, of a safety device constructed and arranged to engage the mainspring and retain it in its depressed position, and a lever constructed to be engaged by the scar and to transmit motion to the safety device, said mainspring serving to operate both the scar and safety device, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the hammer, the scar, and the mainspring, engaging both hammer and sear, of a pivoted dog adapted to engage one arm of the mainspring, a lever for operating said dog, the triggenarm of the sear being constructed to engage and retain the safety-lever in its depressed position, substan tially as set forth. 7

3. The combination, with the hammer, the sear, and the two-armed mainspring, the latter engaging the sear and hammer, of a pivoted dog adapted to engage and lock the mainspring in a depressed position, and a lever engaging said dog, the sear being provided with a flanged arm that engages the lever-arm, whereby the mainspring serves to operate both scar and lever, substantially as set fort-h.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN PAUL BURKHARD. FRANK NOVOTNY.

Vitncsses:

\V. D. CORNIS'II, XV. H. \VILLIAMs. 

